The Business Side of On-line Communication

At the risk of seeming older & “frumpier”, I feel the need to state some of my concerns surrounding Face Book, Twitter, & texting and e-mail in general. Certainly, it’s OK to have the right & need to communicate & express ourselves on-line, especially as a younger person. What we often fail to see, however, are the consequences to family, & other friends. When peers, clients, & suppliers come into play in the business world, it’s even more complicated.

Here’s the problem: When we are face to face with another person, why would we want to spend time communicating to others who are not present? The issue is the same if a businessperson is reading his e-mail on his Blackberry while in a committee or customer meeting. In this case, multitasking is not a strength. Our “in person” attention, when given to another, is a gift. It is also much more effective.

For years now, I’ve witnessed managers spending most of their day immersed in e-mails instead of venturing out of their office to be WITH most of the senders! These folks are not ignoring others directly when they over-rely on their e-mail, but they are ignoring them nonetheless.

Here are some suggestions:

1) Do your texting, Face Book, & Tweeting when you are alone, not even in front of others, let alone when you are supposed to be interacting with them.

2) To accomplish #1, budget a certain amount of time for your social networking; then stick to it. Don’t allow it to take more of your time than you wish.

3) Just as you should develop an e-mail routine while in your office, create one while traveling with your Blackberry. Both should be accomplished in private & take a finite amount of time, otherwise, why would you spend the time & money to travel?

4) Evaluate the benefits of all your time spent communicating, including written, electronically, and face to face. Your methods should be accomplished from a decision based on not only what you need & want, but what your family, people, suppliers, & customers want.

Please understand. I believe electronic communication has not only entered our world permanently, but for the better. We just need to control it for the greater good, like much of the rest of our lives. People, real in-person people, and our relationships with them,
will still remain the most important ingredient in our happiness & success.